Belleview pair raise canines to be service companions for disabled veterans

By GLENDA SANDERS, DAILY SUN

Tuesday, October 10, 2006 9:33 AM EDT

THE VILLAGES — Their names are Honor and Freedom, indicative of the future ahead of them.

The golden retrievers, litter mates, brothers, were selected for training as service dogs for veterans with limited mobility. When they turn 18 months old, they will go through six months of intensive training, during which they will learn to open refrigerator doors, turn on lights, pick up a ringing phone and pick up dropped objects for their owners.

For the time being, Honor and Freedom are living with loving puppy-raisers who prepare them for the training program.

Belleview residents Julie Drexel and Dianne Farrell met when they were taking puppies to basic obedience classes. Both of their dogs were wearing vests identifying them as puppies in training, so the two women struck up a conversation and a friendship.

Drexel was raising a service dog puppy, her second, for New Horizons, an Orange City service dog agency.

Farrell was raising a puppy, her first, for a guide dog agency based in New York.

“I was looking for a way to do something for the community, to give something back, and I was drawn into it,” Farrell said. “I’ve loved every minute of it — it’s so rewarding.”

Because the puppies they were raising were about the same age, both women turned their dogs over to professional trainers about the same time.

Both were anxious to raise a new puppy.

After hearing about New Horizons from Drexel, Farrell decided to raise a service dog puppy.

“The founder of New Horizons is a quadriplegic,” Farrell said. “She is really geared to knowing where to place each dog.”

Drexel likes working with a small agency because it is in tune with the needs of the community.

“They don’t put more puppies out there than they think they can place,” Drexel said.

Although they are named Honor and Freedom because of the people they are being raised to serve — American veterans — Honor and Freedom are brothers in a litter of golden retriever puppies officially listed as the NASCAR litter at New Horizons. They and their littermates made their television debut as tiny pups when their mother’s owner was selected for a car makeover by the “NASCAR Angels” television program. The pups, each held by a member of the NASCAR pit crew that did the makeover, were shown during the first episode of the auto makeover show.

Honor and Freedom were selected for the service dog program because each showed a natural aptitude for skills needed on the job.

“These dogs happened to like to retrieve,” Drexel said.

Golden retrievers are a choice breed for the service dog program because of their size and temperament.

“They must be hearty enough to support someone who falls,” Drexel said. “They’re going to be 85 pounds when they’re grown.”

“They’re halfway there,” Farrell said.

As puppy-raisers, Drexel and Farrell will help with the socialization of the young dogs by taking them out in public, getting them used to unfamiliar sounds and smells and crowds.

“We have them out and about so they’re used to a lot of noises,” Drexel said.

They will also take the pups to basic obedience classes and see to their medical needs.

Although they took on the financial responsibility of raising the puppies when they volunteered to be puppy-raisers, they have received unexpected help.

The veterinarian who takes care of Freedom offered two years of flea protection products for the two Belleview puppies, and a Purina sales representative who happened to be at the vet’s office and heard about what the dogs will be doing offered to provide food for the dogs for two years.

Sleepy Hollow, a local boarder and groomer, volunteered to groom the dogs for a year.

“People really are interested in helping,” Drexel said.

Drexel and Farrell are making a concerted effort to spread the word about the service dog program and to let veterans know that if they need a dog, they should apply for one.

The cost of raising, training and placing a dog from birth to placement is approximately $15,000, so New Horizons welcomes donations.

Drexel and Farrell are anxious to talk to veterans’ groups to explain the service dog program and assist anyone who wants to apply for a dog. They also will speak to groups interested in learning more about the service dog program.

Honor is a treasured part of the Farrell household — Farrell’s granddaughter, Jessica, helps with Honor during public outings — and Freedom is an integral part of the Drexel household, but Farrell and Drexel know the puppies they are raising are just passing through.

“You know going into it that they’re not going to be yours permanently,” Drexel said. “I cry every time I have to turn in a puppy. I cry all the way to the place to turn them in. But the whole thing is a miracle, and I get to be a small part of that miracle.”

Glenda Sanders is a features writer for the Daily Sun. She can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9245, or glenda.sanders@thevillagesmedia.com.